North of Lisbon

Nothing of world-wide substance has been discussed in the last week here at the communique. It’s no excuse, but thats what vacation adventure often brings. Tonight I sit in Caldas da Rainha, using dial-up; which is terrible, but slightly less terrible if you’re on a powerbook listening to the Sloeries, as I am. This city is one hour north of Lisbon, and it’s where moma and papa hang their hats every summer. Today I discovered the upstairs neighbors are Portuguese from Switzerland, and across the hall, from Canada. Very cool, to be surrounded by OUR PEOPLE.

Taking a bus, since the train is still diesel and slow, north of lisbon lets me see alot of the changes in both the urban and provincial landscape. As I listened to the few podcasts I could salvage from my random wifi adventures, I watched the landscape and all the surprising developments, two of which I’ll share with you:

1 – On the way out of Lisbon, even though it might have been there for years, I re-noticed a golf course in the middle of the city. My verdict: What a terribly stupid thing to have. In a city that lacks a field for children to play soccer or ULTIMATE FRISBEE, you have an enormous piece of green reserved for fat white men and the occasional token black guy. I spit in your general direction golfcourse, and the hypocracy you represent. Take those gates down and let everyone in, then I might like you.

2 – Wind Power is everywhere! All those familiar rolling green hills, now yellow from the drought, are now dotted with packs of wind generators! I for one, love this! Generators are beautiful to look at, they are so quiet and peaceful, they remind me of birds flapping their wings. There are lots of punits who argue theyre a waste of money and generate nothing, but as a portuguese ctitizen, I’m impressed and pleased. Especially when compared to the idea of running around trying to figure out where to hide nuclear waste.

those are my reviews for today, we shall tackle world events in depth, this week, I swear. I’m also headed to Porto.. home of port wine, insane soccer fans, and a shiney new metro I want to ride.